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"Sumner is dead. 



W-ix 



OK ATI ON 



Delivered at Washington 

EVANGELI N E. 



I.OF WEED. PARSONS (4 CO , A LBA N Y . N 




ORATION 



CHARLES SUMNER, 



i ;i sski> i'ii 



COLORED PEOPLE. 



" And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto 
Write! 
Messed are the dead which die 

In the Lord! 
Thai they may rest from their labors, 
A >ni their works 
Do follow them."— R.EV. xiv., i ;. 



By EVANGELINE. 



ALBANY: 
WEED, PARSONS & CO., PRINTERS. 

1874. 



+Z* 



CHARLES SUMNER. 
2m TSUcmovicYvn. 



The nation's heart is sad ! 
Her best beloved son, 

The great and good ! 
Has winged his flight from earth, 
And white robed angels 
Shift the gorgeous scenery of the sky 
To let his soul pass onward 
To his God ! 
Who sent his messenger to bid him "Come. 



Sumner is dead ! 
Oh ! many moons must come 

And many go 
Ere we be comforted again, 

Or hush the sighs 
That follow him up the golden stair, 
Echoing through all the shining corridors 

Of heaven, 
Where our beloved one has gone to rest ! 



Jn JVLemoriam. 



Sumner is dead ! 
Oh, sad refrain ! 
In which the teeming earth 
Doth find a voice, 
And nature's gentle hands 
Are laid within the clasping of our own ; 
Stilling the joyous songs of long silent 

Birds, 
That no awakening sound disturb our grief ! 



She casts her snow white mantle 
O'er the whispering grass ! 
And hushes the hasty footfall 

Of coming spring ! 
Calling to the swift March wind 
To carry along the golden clouds 

To waiting angels 
The mournful tidings of our woe ! 



Sumner is dead ! 
O sad repeating words ! 
That beat upon our hearts 
Like showers of frozen hail ! 

Melting in tears ! 
That swell the tidal wave of sorrow, 
Sweeping adown the great Pacific slopes, 
Rushing along 
To the sorrowful shores of the broad Atlantic. 



Sumner is dead ! 
And bitter tears 
From our sad eyes 
Doth make us little recompense 
For his most noble life ! Though 
The nations of the earth rise up to comfort us 
The glorious Orient and the kindly Occident 
Stretch forth their hands 
To us 
Across the spaces of the earth ! 



*4« 



I 



Sumner is dead ! 
And the tears of heaven 
Are mingling with the tears of earth, 
Above his new made grave. 
Showers of stormy rain 
Descend upon the grave of our beloved dead, 
Whose most honored dust 
Is heirloom 
To all the sorrowing nations of the earth ! 



Sumner is dead ! 
O mournful hearts. 
At whose red-lintel doors 
The angel of sorrow knocks, 
And knocks again ! 
() tear filled eyes! upon whose drooping fringes 
The heavy foot of sorrow presses hard 
Be comforted ! 
For God shall wipe the tears from your sad eyes. 



* 



►n- 



<5D x a t i o rx . 



There is a word. 

When once spoken, 

Fixes its meaning upon every human brain, 

And finds a habitation, 
Within the sacred chambers of the soul ; 

A word, 
Whether spoken on the shores of the Orient, 
Lying in slumbrous dreams 

A-near the sun ! 
Or the land of the snow and ice, 
Where gorgeous temples arise, 
Whose translucent walls are 
Builded without the sound of hammer or chisel ! 

Whether spoken 
In the halls of learning or at the fireside, 
On the ship's deck 
Or the soldier's camp, 

Finds an echo 
In every human heart ! 



'* 



& 

JN M.EMORIAM. 



A word. 
At whose sound 
The pages of history open, 
And the stirring deeds of our forefathers 

Are marshaled forth to meet us ! 
Thousands of trusty swords leap from their scabbards, 
And the hillsides 
Are populous with rising life; 
Long lines of shadowy soldier-forms 

Start up, 
Forming in dense array along the valleys, 
Bearing evidence 
Of the word, 
Whose meaning 
Has never been changed since 
The Almighty traced the boundaries of the sea. 
And bid the earth come forth 
From the womb of waters ! 
That word is Freedom ! 



-1*1 



Jn fA 



EMORIAM. 



A word 
Fraught with deepest meaning 

To ye, 
O ye down-trodden nation ! 
Who stood alone 
Under the sombre shadow of the past, waiting 

For the angel of the future, the sound 
Of whose foot-falls made the present tremulous 
With coming tidings ! 
A word, 
Pregnant with joys to the poor fettered slave, 
Toiling in the heat and burthen of the day 
In southern fields, 
Where the snowy cotton 
Unfurls its fleecy banner to the breeze ! 
Or in the luxuriant tropics, 
Where forests 
Are all ablaze with gorgeous flowers, and birds, 
And the odorous air 
Is laden with orange and spice ! 



■* 



Or toiling 
In northern latitudes, 
Where his best efforts 
And upward tendencies are clogged ! 

His life burdened with sorrow, 
And ill-requited toil ! 

O ye men ! 
Over whose helpless nakedness 
He cast the mantle of liberty, woven out ! 

Woof and weft ! 
Of the threads of his very life ! 
Ye men ! 
Whose faces were never so black as not to show 
Behind their dark surface 
The features of a brother ! 
Whose hands, unstained by crime, were never so black 
As to be unfit for his grasp ! 
In loving token of a long lost 
Brotherhood ! 



1* 



Jn JA 



EMORIAM, 



O ye men ! 
Whom he discovered 
Prone in the valley of tribulation ! 
Looking with infinite longing, and sad yearning eyes, 
At the solemn vault of heaven, 

Where stars 
Take their nightly course 
Around a mysterious centre ! 
Wondering, 
If within the folding of those azure doors, 
There was room for you ! 
Ye men! 
For whom this great apostle ol liberty 
Stretched forth the rod of justice, 
And smote, 
With a fearless blow, the stony rock of national caste, 
Till all the waters of liberty 

Flowed forth ! 
And he gave you to drink ! 



In Memoriam. 



Ye may well 
Stand with uncovered heads, 
Above his new made grave, 
Bowed down with a weight of woe — 
A sense of loss too great for human expression 
For the good man, 
Whom God called in the morning of his life, 

To be a modern Moses 
To an oppressed and down-trodden nation, 

Upon whose lives 
The iron-foot of bondage made its impress ! 

For the hand 
That bore aloft the proud banner of freedom, 
And scaled the walls of deep-rooted prejudice. 
To demand 
From the custodians of human liberty, 
The scroll of your birth-right ! 
Lies cold and still 
In death ! 



► , . ^ 



The strong right arm 
That smote the pillar of 
Your wrongs in the dust ! Calling back 
Fleeting generations, before whose revelations 
The white faces of the earth 

Stood still ! 
Trembling before outraged heaven. 
Upon whose faithful pages every oppression, 
Every lash of the whip, 
Every tear 
From long suffering eyes were registered 
For future reference ! 
" Beware ! " 
Said Sumner in his great appeal to humanity, 
" Of the groans of wounded souls ; 
Oppress not to the uttermost 
A single heart ! 
For one solitary sigh has power to overset 
A whole world / " 



t£« 



O, ye freed people ! 
Scarce had the name of 
Fillmore 
Traced its guilty lines upon the page 
Of that most consummate act 
Of cruelty, 
When a hundred guns from Boston's classic heights 
Belched forth their teeming fire 

In ratification 
Of the great treaty of blood ! 
Like a ponderous knell ! 
Their jarring sound boomed out your death cry, 
Upon the soul of Sumner ! 
And all the night, of that most lurid day, 

Alone with his God. 
His fast retreating and coming footsteps 
Made his silent chamber eloquent with his agony. 
And kept their mournful rythm 
With the throes of his soul ! 



4« — ^ 



This true man 
Who stood up in your midst 
Like a pillar of light ! 
Endowed with power to emit a radiance 
All its own ! 
When friend and foe alike 
Refusing the succor and protection 
Of a common humanity ; 
Would force back the hapless, 

Fugitive slave 
To the hell of slavery ; 

" Thus openly DEFYING 
Every sentiment of justice, humanity and christian duty." 
Leaving to coming generations 
A record of human wrongs, 
" Amongst the crimes of history, another 
Is about to be recorded, 
Which no tears can blot out ! " 
Said the upright statesman. 



■* 




As he stood 
Amidst the surging tide 
Of calumny and misconception. 
Bearing up 
Against the pressure of the waves of " caste." 
His solemn words echoing through the senate : 
" By the supreme lazv 
Which commands me to do justice ; 
By the comprehensive 
A nd conscientious law 

Of brotherhood ; 
By the constitution 
I have sworn to support, 
I am bound to disobey this act ! 
A nd never, 
In any circumstance, can I rc?ider volmitary aid to it ! 
Pains and penalties I will endure ! 
This great wrong I will ?iot do. 

Better be the victim, 
Than the instrument of wrong ! " 



*- 



Fired ! 
With Athenian eloquence, 
Towering aloft in his noble manhood ! 
Bearing- the grand proud form 
Of a Cret'an hero ! 

Hurling ! 
The thunder of heaven 

Upon the guilty heads 
Of your inhuman and infamous oppressors, 
Who would enslave 
The very freedom of his speech ! 
And hang 
The fetters of party strife 
Upon his independent thoughts ! 
But he rose up in his giant strength, 
Raising the prostrate column 

Of your rights, 
Manfully fighting for it, block by block, 
Every inch of the ground 
Contested ! 



rf 




What wonder 
That common minds, 
Lacking the moral vertebrae (backbone) 
Of a grand and noble humanity, should deem him 
Passionate ! 
Yet, " what is life 
Without passionate feeling 
To false sentiment ? 
It is, indeed, a dangerous auxiliary ; 
But no true sentiment is complete 
Without it." 
And truer sentiments 
Never lit the fires of eloquence in a purer breast 
Than Sumner's ! 
A breast that heaved with indignation 

For your bitter wrongs, 
And the piteous spectacle of human nature 
That Taney's mandate presented 
To the eyes of the world ! 



4« *z* 



That, 
" The black man 
Has no rights the white man is bound to respect." 
O ! omnipotent 
And omnipresent God ! 
Who made us in thine own image, 
Breathing 
Thine own pure breath 
Into our dust-created bodies ! 
Giving of thine own life 
A semblance 
So great in all its purity so grand in all its fulness, 
That our humanity can scarce contain it ! 
So, whether our faces be black, or whether 

They be white. 
If we but retain thy semblance. 
And keep within 



Jn/& 



EMORIAM. 



The sacred 
Cloister of our souls 
The lamp that thou didst consecrate 

And gave 
Into our most solemn keeping 
To illuminate the fair pages of our lives, 

And shed 
Its holy light upon the path 
That lies along the shimmering moon-beams of the sky, 
Upon whose silver stair 
Expectant angels wait ; 
Whose luminous wings enfold us round about, 
Bearing our happy souls 
Beyond the sapphire gates 

To the home 
From whence we came- 
ls are as one to thee ! 
A nd all the thinking, reasoning nations 
Of the earth! 



4« * 



Once only 
In the history of this nation, 
The floor of the senate chamber 
Dedicated to justice and liberty, 
Is stained with the blood 
Of a martyr ! 
He lay helpless and lifeless along that floor, 
Like an Athenian warrior 
Slain upon the altar of his country ! 
His grand, proud head 
Dyed with the crimson tide 
Of his own life blood ! 
His pale, cold face, and white soundless lips 
Appealing in their speechless agony 
To the banner of his country, that hung in starry folds 
Above his head ! 
The hand that smote him to the earth, 
Severed the life-chord of his 
Physical well-being ! 



"* 




But, 
Out of the blood, 
Out of the turmoil, the warfare and 
Passionate strivings, 
Out of the pain and anguish, 
Out of the ruin and solitude, 
Out of the great silence that lay upon his life, 
There rose up 
A spirit of grandeur 
With the thews and sinews of Divine wisdom ! 
A grander, nobler, truer manhood 
Wrought out of the fires 
Of anguish and pain ! 
A wisdom that has gone its slow, sure round 

Upon the wheels of time, 
Calling out of your own nation a full man 

To sit in the chair 
Of him who smote your patriot and friend 
At his post of duty ! 



'►« 



Out 

From the ruin wrought 
By a thoughtless and passionate hand ! 
Sumner, the christian statesman 
Arose grander than ever ! 
Daring to speak the truth 
Having the moral courage to wear it proudly 
Upon his lips ! 
Flooding its glorious light 
Upon the actions of his life ! 
Oh ! How we revere 
The man who speaks the truth ! 
Whose words and actions 
Call no unhealthy effort to the mind ! 
In winnowing out the one bright grain 
Of truth 
From the chaff of shiftless falsehood ! 
The tired brain, weary with analyzing 
Sought rest in his statements, nor placed them 
Within its crucible ! 



O, truth! 
Thou art born of God ! 
On thy fair brow 
The jeweled crown of purity gleams ! 
Thy garments 
Are luminous with shimmering star-light 
O truth ! 
Thou semblance of the living God ! 
What have we not borne, what suffered 
For thee ! 
Misconception 
Darkens thy fair features ! 
Misconstruction covers thee with her shadowy mantle ! 
Throwing wide 
The flood-gates of sorrow 
That rush from the bitter fountain 
Of the grieved soul ! 
In thy right hand is a crown 
Of glory ! In thy left 
A crown of thorns ! 



24 



-A 




Truth 
Is a spirit of glory ! 
A body of trancendent grandeur ! 
Sinewy and tenacious 
For the human mind to grasp ! 
The nations of the Earth 
Stand forth to honor 
A man of truth, 
And lay their tribute at his feet ! 
Alas ! too often 
After his human ear, 
Strained to the utmost tension to catch 
The far off sound, 
After his throbbing heart ! 
Hungering for human sympathy, thirsting 
For the cup of love 
Starving for the kindly hand-grasp, 
Tired, and worn, and weary, 
Lays down to die ! 



►j. ■ * 



And 
The dread Saul's march 
Thrilling its weird music 
Above his grave, 
Is but an echo of dead expectancy and woe ! 
That fall upon our hearts 
Like the rustling leaves of autumn ! 
Ah! 
There are human faces 
Meeting our eyes each day, 

Which, 
If they lay cold and still 
The air would rend with our lamentations 
And sorrow ! 
And our sad tears would vainly try 
To wash the lines of care 
From their dead faces ! 
That till the haunted chamber of our souls 
For evermore ! 



■ir 



Yet! 
No word of sympathy, 
No outstretched hand, 
Bore to their full expectant hearts 
A token ! 
No kindling glance 
Of sympathetic brotherhood ; 
Bore to their asking eyes 
" I have a care of thee ! " 
Thus we go on day after day, wrapping 
The mantle of selfishness round our humanity ! 
Looking so earthward, 
The tears of our grieving brother 
Fall upon our feet ! 
O, have a care that 
No such sin as this be recorded in Heaven's register 
To burthen your free souls 
As ye go upward ! 



i 




When 
The weary day 
Lays down her tired head 
Upon the dreamy pillow of the past, 

Closing the silent gates of night 
On her departing foot-falls ! 
Throwing back upon our thrilling senses 

The curtains of mystery ! 
That float upon the silence and hush 

Of the night season ! 
Making the soundless air 

Tremulous with lite ! 

'Tis then, 
And not till then. 
Pervaded by a divine restlessness 

We kneel 
And loose our earthly shoes from off our feet 
For the ground whereon we stand 
Is hoi v! 



28 



>*- 



Alone, 
With the divine sculptor, 
Whose unerring chisel, 
Rounds off the uneven curves and awkward corners 
Of our erring nature, 
The heroic statue 
Is wrought out of roughest marble ! 

So, the good man 
Is moulded out of his very faults ! 
Thus the great master hand 
With divine precision 
Measured the breadth and depth and height 
Of Sumner ! 
To fill with honor and credit 
The royal shrine ; 
The grand and noble niche prepared for him 
In heaven, 
And in the stirring history 
Of the world ! 



29 
^ — ^ 



I» 



EMORIAM. 



There are men 
So utterly narrow-minded, 
So wanting in moral vertebrae 
And grand human nature, that they are never greatly 
Tempted ! 
Satan, 
With discriminating acumen, seeks higher 

Prey than these ! 
They are all too flimsy, weak, and crude 
For his purposes ! 
But, 
Upon the men of moral breadth, of depths 

Of human pity ; 
Of height of divine abiding ! Some prince 
Of the sons of the earth, 
Whom God has chosen 
For some great epoch in our history, 
The whole artillery of hell 
Is brought to bear ! 



BO 



Men 
Tried and trusted of God ! 
Fitted to go down to the arena, 
•' To fight the great fight," from the going down 
To the rising of the sun ! 
Struggling with some deadly temptation that has 
Locked him 
In its sinewy embrace ; 
Or taking some wild passion 
By the throat. 
And strangling it out of existence. 
These, 
The large-hearted, square-headed, high minded, 
Men of history, 
Are his best stock in trade ! 
To these temptation comes ! and if they fall, 
He lashes them to his chariot wheels, 
And carries them in triumph 
Into hell ! 



*■ 



Jn /VIemoriam. 



But Sumner, 
The man of princely integrity, 
Accepted no defeat, acknowledged no tempter ! 
The lobbyist, 
Engaged in tunneling under human nature, 
Fled from before his face ! 

The briber, 
Whose soft insinuating palm 
Takes kindly to the hands of his fellow man 
He, 
Who cometh with a smile, 
And asketh for no receipt ! 
He, 
Whose loosened purse strings, bind 

The tender conscience 
With cords, gripped by the sinewy hand 

Of Satan, 
Turns aside to let Sumner pass on ; 
The utterly incorruptible ! 



■ ! ■ » ! ■ 



'Tis thus, 

Viewing the great 
Defender of the constitution surrounded 
By an atmosphere of bribery and corruption 

Of men 
Selling the very sinews of their country 

For just so many dollars 

Of bitter enemies, 

Of unstable friends ; 

Of hurry and rush 

Of weak legislation ; 
Of " the groans of wounded souls ; " 
Of falsehood and moral contagion 

That we love him best. 

For amidst the soulless throng- 
He stood up in his peerless manhood 

Like a pillar of truth, 
And carried with him the brightest 

Stars of the age ! 



J« ■ ^ 






In Memi 



'Twas not in vain 

He sat, 
A studious disciple 
At the royal feet of wisdom ! 
Culling- the sweets of knowledge from her tomes ! 

Not in vain 
Did he visit other lands, and other climes, 

Filling up 
The vast storehouses of his mind, 
With the rarest 
And richest gems of culture, 
The grand position he had taken in the great 
Human family 
Needed this ! 
He stood like a great tree in the forest, 
The branches of which stretched out 

So far 
As to cover the oppressed ones 
Of the whole world ! 



► « ►« 



Let us all 

Kindle our aspirations 

At his shrine ! For the loftiest ideas 

Flow from him ! 
This our modern Solomon who challenged 

The admiration of the world ! 
Whose wise and pure character 

Stands out before us to-night 
As one 
That fills the void in our highest ideas 
Of manhood ! 
The light of his example 
Throws its clear defining ray along 
The pathway of our lives ; 
Keeping our eye upon that beacon of light 

We shall not stumble, 
But fulfill our duties truthfully, manfully, 
And with a pure heart! 



► « * 




His character. 
In its human and divine greatness, 
Has a wondrous completeness ! 
Comprehensive 
In its compact firmness, its grasp of justice. 

Vital 
In its rounded purity, its magnanimous 
Humanity ! 
Subtle 
In its fine intuitive sympathy! 

Grand 
In its lofty ideas of duty ! 
He 
Has left us a rich inheritance not in lands 
Or tenements, 
But in jewels of silver, jewels of gold, 
And precious stones ! 
Heir-looms that shall crown our lives 
With honor! 



36 



These jewels 
Dived for, in fathoms deep of the waters 
Of tribulation, 
Are our common heritage ! 
His 
Nobility of character, caught from divine communing ! 
His 
Devotion to truth and integrity of purpose ! 

His 
Allegiance to pure principles and honor ! 

His 
Grand moral and physical courage, 
And his great humanity ! 
Towering in strength, like a giant tree 
In the forest, 
These are the casket of gems 
He has willed to our keeping, 
To adorn our lives ! 



+£. 




Wc stand amazed 
At the pyramid of work, 
Of toilsome labors, he has raised up ! 

Labors 
Associated with your rise, progression, 

And preservation ! 
The pages of his life are illuminated with 
The records of his toil ! 
These facts 
Should pass into your lives, elevating and ennobling 
Your efforts ! 
Raising you upward to 
The true dignity of daily labor ! 
Ye diggers of the soil, 
Remember that he was a digger amongst 

The roots of wisdom ! 
Remember that he was pre-eminently 
A laborer, 
Whose deeds have passed securely 
Into the history 
Of the world ! 



:;s 



[n jVL 



FMORIAM, 



His 
Work is done ! 
The temple is built all but the crest, 
And to tender and loyal hands he has left 

The finishing thereof ! 
He has fulfilled the mission to which 
God called him ! 
He, 
With the bright band of thinkers 
And laborers, 
Has brought you out of bondage, of Egyptian 
Darkness 
To the glorious noon day of freedom. 

The promised land 
Is yours by divine and human right ! 
From his immense altitude, with the eyes 
Of prophesy, 
He could see you possessed of 
Its every corner ! 



39 



His 

Wreath is woven ! 
Not upon the garniture of costly 

Sepulchre, 
But upon the loving and sorrowing hearts 
Of four millions of freed people ! 
Not upon 
The marble statue, 
But upon the appreciative consciousness 
Of the world at large ! 
His wreath is woven ! 
Every leaf bedewed with tears ! 
Every flower wreathed in with lamentations ! 
Tied with the heart-strings of a nation's love ! 
But, " we mourn not as one without hope ! " 
For " I am the resurrection and life 
" Saith the Lord ! 
He who believeth in me, though he were dead 
" Yet shall he live." 



10 



*■ 



Ye women ! 
Upon whose kindly bosoms 
Lisping children nestle ! 
Remember ! 
For the eyes that saw deepest into your human 
Woe, 
And trembled in humid tenderness 
For your degraded humanity, 
Are closed for ever ! 
Remember ! 
For the lips 
That broke your galling fetters 
With the fiery thunder of his manhood's 
Eloquence ! 
Re-adjusting, 
In all its God-given symmetry, 
The disjointed framework 
Of your human lives, 
Are stilled ! 



J4 

In /Wemoriam. 



Ye women ! 
Who stood alone, 
On the outer fringes of proud 
Humanity ! 
Appealing in your helpless degradation 
To the pity of the world ! 
Remember ! 
For the hand 
That made room for you 
Amongst the nations of the earth, 
And placed a seat 

For you 
In the halls' of civilization ! 
Remember .' 
For the hand, 
That dug out of the shifting sands 
Of public opinion 
The gem you wear proudly upon your bosoms, 
Lies cold in death ! 



-hi 



Ye women. 
Remember ! 
As ye take a last lingering look 
At the face 
Of your dead martyr, 
On which the surging tide of calumny 

And misconception 
Have left their harrowing traces, 

That he was 
The great high priest of your nation, 
Ministering 
To its highest aspirations ! 
Remember ! 
The hand 
That lies with such pathetic attitude 

Above his quiet bosom, 
Opened wide the gates of freedom 
To your weary footsteps, 
And let you in ! 



43 



■* 



JN^ 



EMORIAM. 



O ye women ! 
Remember ! 
And take heed 
What influence ye bring to bear upon 
The coming generation ! 
For ye, too, 
Form a strong link 
In the chain of our civilization ! 
Woman, in all ages, in all climes. 

White and black, 
Have swayed an influence over the world 

For evil or lor good, 
Which has swept the black tide of iniquity, 
Whose waters reach down to the uttermost depths 
Of hell ; 
Or the gentle waves of good, freighted with 

A nation's blessings ! 
Upon the waves, whose, reflex actions 
A re the currents tliat flow 
From heaven ! 



•> « 



O ye women ! 
Remember ! 
And forget not ! 
Your great patriot and friend 
Left to your keeping 
The jewels of divine and human greatness 
Washed with his tears ! 
Brightened with his love ! 
Remember ! 
And forget not ! 
The intertwining of your prayer extended hands 
Forms a stairway 
By which your nation hope 
To reach all greatness, 
All purity, all grandeur, 
And at last 
To follow your leader up the shining stair 
To heaven ! 



■►H 




As 
The voice of sympathy 
Hath a thousand tongues, 
Making the silent mystery of night 
Eloquent with gentle whisperings. 
So, out of the seclusion of my quiet life, 

To ye 
O ye millions of freed people, I have come ! 
To ye my sympathies go forth to-night. 
Sympathies, 
At whose fountain head, the angel of purity sits ; 
And from her sacred niche, beholds 
The coming and the going thereof. 

For ye 
Whom he called his children, were knit in 
With every fibre of his heart ; 

And your wrongs echoed 
To the innermost chamber of his soul. 
To ye 



►i* 



*• 



In /Wemoriam 



O ye men ! 
Who loved him 
With a love past telling ! 
Be the better for his noble efforts ! 
Let the picture of his glorious life 
Hang ever before your eyes ! 
Sanctifying your efforts, ennobling your aspirations ! 
He suffered 
In the throes of agony to give birth 
To a higher manhood ! 
Be that manhood ! 
True, you have been buffetted and 

Rudely tossed, 
But that has passed into the oblivion of 
The receding age ! 
The present and future 
Are open to you as never before ! 
Helping hands are extended to you ! 
Take care of your opportunities ! 



► «« 



Jn M.EMORIAM 



Ye men 

Cultivate truth ! 
For honor and independence 
Follow quickly upon its footsteps ! 

Tis true 
The standard of Sumner is high ! 
But a-down the ladder of his life there are 
Steps of granite mould 
That will bear you upward 
And onward ! 
Be ye governed by no ignoble motives ! 
The time is not far distant when the missing 
Fringes 
Of the glorious mantle of liberty 
Will be sewn on by loving hands ! 

Be prepared for it ! 
Receive it upon your knees, 
With uncovered heads ! 
Remembering whose hand had 
Wrought it out ! 



48 



Be ye sure 

It is borne to ye 

Within the folding of an angel's wing ! 

Tis yours ! 

By the voice of heaven ! 

'Tis yours ! 
By the voice of earth ! 
The pinnacle of your temple of freedom ! 
The flag that will nutter freely o'er its top ! 

" O, my bill ! My bill ! ! " 
He cried in the last agonies of death ! 
" Take care of my civil rights bill ! " 

Were his solemn words, 
As the messenger of death stood upon 
His threshold ! 
" 0, don't let the bill fail ! " 
Was his dying injunction, as he sought out 
With his glazing eye, the friend 
Who kissed his hand in token of 
The solemn covenant ! 



49 



1*1 

In /Wemoriam. 



" Take 
Care of your rights ! 
Comes across the ocean of eternity, 
A solemn message from your friend 
And benefactor ! 
Be worthy of him ! 
Raise the standard of your people higher, 
And higher still ! 
To-day is yours ! 
Grasp firm hold of it, for it cometh not 
Again ! Let the world see and note 
The heroic fibre 
Of which you are made ! 
Remember the gates of a great future 
Are open to you ! 
Educate yourselves, your women and your children 
Inaugurate and carry on 
Reform within yourselves; 
Enlarge your minds ! Quicken your 
Intelligence, and follow in the footsteps 
Of Sumner ! 



►*«■ 



Ye men. 

Look well and wisely 

To your political welfare! 

Let not the foul fingers of bribery 

And corruption 
Pollute the pure scroll of your 
Birthright ! 
Remember the loving laborers upon the walls 
Of liberty's republican temple. 
A temple built on free soil ! 
" Its corner stone," said Sumner, " is freedom ; 
Its broad, all sustaining arches, 
Truth, justice and humanity ! 
Like the ancient Roman capitol, at once 
A temple and a citadel ! 
Fit shrine for the genius of A merican institutions." 
A shrine at whose high A Itar 
The best and noblest of the land doth minister ! 

A temple wherein the lamp of human pity 
Suspended by the chain of universal brotherhood 
Swings its perpetual light ! 



*• 



4 




Adieu 
Charles Sumner ! 
Thou friend of humanity, Adieu ! 
Never! Till the sun 
Folds up his gorgeous mantle ! 
Hiding his burning head 
In the dark valley of chaos ! 

Never ! 

Till the moon's pale hand 

Forgets to throw her silver shower 

A-down the ether track ! 

Never ! 
Till the angels forget 
To replenish the glistening starlight 
In the sky ! 
Never ! 
Till the great surging deep recedes 
To the mysterious outlet, 
From whence the voice of God 
Called it forth ! 



-*4 



Never ! 

Till the murmuring shells 

Lying along the sunny shores 

Forget their music ! 

Never ! 

Till the flowers hide their heads 

Upon the dying heart of nature, 

Sighing out the requiem 

" There is no more life ! " 

And the birds go silently to their death ! 

Never ! 

Till human hearts 

Throb out their last breath 

Shalt thou be forgotten ! 

Nay ! Not even then ! For 

As we go upward on our last journey 

We'll see thy name with the names of the just 

Written in letters of gold 

Across the sky ! 

Finis. 



53 




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" It will take a long time to get the whole 
truth told about that noble man, and many 
voices to tell it." 

HENRY W. LONGFELLOW 

Cambridge, May n, 1874. 




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